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Sedans Mazda6 MAZDASPEED Mazda6
1675 messages, Last post on Sep 01, 2009 at 3:40 PM
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I just bought an '06 Speed6 GT. Coming from an '02 WRX, the Speed6 seems superior in every way. More power at lower RPMs, 6-speed, better brakes, traction control/stability control, handles great (although the extra weight is felt), looks better, and the interior is head and shoulders better in design, look and feel. Not to mention Bose, heated leather and the keyless ignition that is growing on me. I considered a Legacy GT, but the Speed6 was less expensive, and IMHO a better car, not to mention that you can't swing a dead chicken without hitting a Legacy around here. There is nothing else that comes close for under $35K, the going price in CO for an A3/A4/G35x/Passat 4Motion, etc. Anyone on the fence should move now. The '07s have no significant changes, and the factory warranty is being cut to 36K miles. Invoice minus the $3500 rebate on the '06 is unbeatable...the price was within $1000 of a standard WRX, and a Speed6 Sport can be had for less than a WRX TR. Thousands less than a Legacy GT Turbo. |
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If it is that good why is it discounted so heavily? Krzys |
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Replying to: krzyss (Sep 11, 2006 4:11 am) My point is, cars that sell best aren't always the best cars (and they usually aren't made for auto enthusiasts), but they hit their intended market on the nose, so they justify their continued, profitable existance. This also applies to music, movies, food, etc. The MAZDASPEED6 has several perception problems working against it: 1) It's based on the Mazda 6 which, while a nice car, isn't generally perceived as a performance car. Toyota could release a truly sporty Camry (not the lame SE model), but it still wouldn't sell to enthusiasts. Note that Toyota dropped the Celica and MR Spyder last year and they're dropping the Celica-engined Matrix XLR and Corolla XLR for 2007. Toyota is smart enough to know that nobody considers Toyota to be a sporty, youthful brand, hence the creation of Scion. 2) It's not flashy enough or promoted properly to appeal to the youth market. Subaru, Mitsubishi, Scion and Volkswagen spend ample $$$ to make sure their cars are featured in movies, video games and other youth-oriented promotional vehicles. 3) On the flip side, it's not luxurious enough or prestigious enough (for those who care) to compete with BMW, Audi, Lexus, etc. IN the end, the MAZDASPEED6 is neither here nor there -- it's difficult to pigeonhole, which makes it a hard sell. Is it a WRX competitor or an A4 competitor? Would it sell better with an automatic and wood trim or with a flashier spoiler kit and wheels and a louder exhaust? Mazda has done a poor (non-existant?) job marketing the car -- I have never seen/heard a single ad for the car and nobody I know has ever heard of it. It is a car in serch of a market. In the end, I don't care. I was able to take advantage of the fact that they're not selling well and strike a great deal on a great car. I've driven Nissans, Hondas and Acuras before, but this is the first time I've ever purchased a Japanese car and I don't regret it -- the Mazda feels 50% German to me! The only downside: when my lease is up, I highly doubt Mazda will offer another car that I'll be interested in, so they'll probably lose me back to Audi/VW or another brand. -monkeymobile
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Replying to: krzyss (Sep 11, 2006 4:11 am)  The orginal price was way too high because at over $31k GT was competing with Volvo s60R that was selling for around 32k! LGT 5spd was always less and it is actually faster (because you can get to 60 in 2nd) on paper and it is easier to tune. History repeats itself: last year 9-2x Aero was selling for less than WRX with better warranty and nicer exterior  8-10k off! MS6 is a sleeper in more ways than one. BTW: MS6 can be had for about 7k off MSRP  if you shop hard enough and if you live in a competive market. Many dealerships start negotiation with $6k off. There are more incentives than the advertised $3.5k but they are tied to volume... 
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Replying to: monkeymobile (Sep 11, 2006 10:07 am) That car itself is great, fun, and most of all unique. There has been great to better than decent cars that companys failed to promote properly. That's just a fact! And this is one of them. I wondered the same thing, when my lease ends to I get another Mazda interesting enough for me? Although I love this car enough to buy it out right.
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Replying to: m3nmsp6 (Sep 11, 2006 11:20 am) BTW, I was to the Mazda road show & talked to a rep about the tires (short milage life of low profile tires & high price) and he tried to assure me that they should go 40k miles if driven easy. Well, I'll see for sure - 2yr 40k mile lease. I had to replace one tire at 1400 miles due to a nail in the side wall  $270 = over $1000 for a set of 4.
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Replying to: m3nmsp6 (Sep 11, 2006 11:20 am) Resale on the MS6 will be abysmal because Mazda is (sadly) dumping these cars like like they have the plague. Worse still, the poor sales and poor margins on the MS6 will probably prevent Mazda from offering a follow-up car that's anything like the MS6, at least in the US. So, 22 months from now, I'll be in the market for a new car. Mazda will either 1) dump the residual on this car and pray I take it off their hands, or 2) try to sell me something else I clearly don't want. The MX-5 is beautiful, but impratcical for me, the RX-8 isn;t my cup of tea and the mileage stinks and I'm not interested in a FWD 3, 6 or SUV. Seriously, any chance Mazda will make another AWD sports sedan any time soon? I don't think so, which is a bummer considering how much I dig the MS6 (especially the suspension and brakes). -monkeymobile |
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Lack of an automatic eliminates 75% of potential buyers immediately. It may not hurt the Evo and STi as much because of the demographics of the potential buyers, but for the more mature Speed6 candidate, it is a huge issue. The secondary issue with the Speed6 is marketing. And it may not be that much of an issue, since Mazda is only importing 5000 of them, and they got a late start this year. A few dealers in CO have several left, but many dealers have sold out. But then, manual transmissions are much more common here, and not as much of a knockout punch. Once you get an aware consumer who will accept the 6 speed, the issue is positioning. The car falls in a performance niche between the WRX and Evo/STi, and a luxury niche between the Camcord/Legacy/VW and the Audi/Volvo/BMW. It is probably most like the Legacy GT Spec.b overall, with more power, better handling and braking, traction and stability control, and is less expensive (even at MSRP). But it is not a Subaru, and Subaru has a lot of brand loyalty. When you go down the list of cars that are similar (which I would define as AWD performance cars), you see WRX and STi, Legacy GT, Evo, R32, Infinity G35x, various Audis, Volvos, BMWs, pretty soon you realize that the Speed6 is an incredible bargain. I guess you could go so far as to include the 300C/Magnum Hemi AWD's in the list, but I won't go there. I think a more minor problem is that once you get above the $30K threshold, really little things will keep people from buying a car. In the case of the Speed6, things like lack of a boost gauge (serious omission), no aux input on the stereo, no power on the leather passenger seat, no backup sensors, and a dozen other things that may be on other cars 'in the 30's', can be used as an excuse to go elsewhere. Once you get all of those features though, you are usually looking mid-30's and up. Bottom line, if you look at what you can get in a performance sedan for $22-25k (what the Speed6 is going for right now), you will find absolutely nothing that comes close. Only once in a while does a truly great car bargain come along, and this is one of them. I'm sure it hurts Mazda to be selling them this low, and it really hurts those who bought early and paid near MSRP... I only have had one other great deal like this on a new car..ironically it was a 1988 Mazda 323GTX, which was a pretty similar car in concept (high performance AWD turbo) in a (much) smaller package. I paid $13K for a car that stickered at near $17K, drove it 100K miles, and when it was totalled, I got $9K from the insurance company! GTX's are serious cult items now. They only imported 1200 or so of these over two model years. I haven't seen one in years, although when they were new, there were several in my area. Like the Speed6, the car was totally under the radar, but it totally rocked, and everyone I ever talked to that had one loved it to death. It was an AWD turbo go cart with absolutely incredible handling and genuine Recaros that were the best seats I've ever seen in a factory vehicle. Maybe the Speed6 will achieve similar cult status. The GTX was so rare it barely had enough owners to make a cult....
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Replying to: scottl (Sep 11, 2006 3:44 pm)
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